Paraguay moved into the last 16 of the World Cup for the fourth time in its history Thursday after being held to an uneventful 0-0 draw by New Zealand. Neither team created many scoring chances despite displaying more urgency after the break following a turgid first half at Peter Mokaba Stadium. Paraguay topped Group F with five points, two more than New Zealand – which was eliminated after Slovakia beat Italy 3-2 in the other group game to advance. Paraguay substitute Edgar Benitez sent a low shot that was saved by goalkeeper Mark Paston in the 76th minute in the best chance of the match. Teammate Cristian Riveros headed straight at Paston from a short corner in the 64th in the only other chance of note. “It was a very hard match, but in the end it was the most important thing to qualify,” Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino said. “We had many problems in our attack today, to get through their defense. But the result is in our favor.” The Paraguayans also reached the second round at the World Cup in 1986, 1998 and 2002. Having lost all three matches in 1982 in its only other World Cup appearance, New Zealand now heads home undefeated at this tournament after earlier 1-1 draws with Slovakia and defending champion Italy, a team ranked 73 places above the Kiwis. Herbert, who played in that 1982 tournament, made no changes from Sunday's match against Italy in Nelspruit. Martino made three changes to the team that beat Slovakia 2-0 in Bloemfontein. Forward Oscar Cardozo came in for Lucas Barrios, and defenders Denis Caniza and Julio Cesar Caceres replaced Carlos Bonet and Anatolin Alcaraz. In the two teams' only previous meeting, Paraguay beat New Zealand 3-2 in a 1995 friendly played in Chile. Both teams started cautiously and had trouble finding their targets with long-range passes on the fast and bouncy surface, which is a hybrid of natural and synthetic grass. New Zealand's 3-4-3 formation gave the Kiwis a player advantage in midfield with Paraguay lining up in a fluid 4-3-3. But the willingness of Nelson Valdez, Enrique Vera, Claudio Morel and Caniza to alternate in staying close to the sidelines opened up enough room in the middle for the South Americans' slick interchange passing. Caniza, making his first appearance at the tournament to become the first Paraguayan to play in four World Cups, went close in the 19th minute. He struck an angled 25-meter shot first time, only for the ball to fly high and wide. Ten minutes later, Caniza sent another long-range strike over the crossbar as Paraguay's superior technique gradually took control over New Zealand's more direct style, although without threatening to create any clear chances inside the box. Valdez forced Paston into making a comfortable save in the 35th, striking a low shot from 30 meters (yards) straight at the goalkeeper. Leo Bertos was lively on the right flank for New Zealand but any attempts to find target man Rory Fallon with deep crosses were inevitably too close to goalkeeper Justo Villar. The Kiwis kept two defenders at the back and sent everyone else forward in desperate search of the goal that would keep them in the tournament, but Paraguay's ragged defense held firm.
